


First Meeting

by JulyStorms



Series: Let the World Burn Through You [10]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 17:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6339445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulyStorms/pseuds/JulyStorms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorcas makes Natalie's acquaintance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted anonymously on Tumblr: Dorcas & Natalie + 22. books.
> 
> Kind of a headcanon, but it’s been so long since I read the script & supports for this game that it may not be quite 100% compliant.

Dorcas came down from the hills with his father’s vegetables to make a trade for grain in the small valley village below. It was on his way back home that he caught his first glimpse of her.

She was reading. Considering her age and the season, he found it odd that she would sit there. There was never a shortage of work to be done in the early autumn, after all. But she looked so peaceful that he assumed the hours were hers to spend as she liked. He could hardly help but be intrigued by a girl who chose to pass her own time with a book in hand. That picture of her stayed with him all the way home, and he almost drew it—almost took charcoal to paper in the evening lamplight to make something permanent and lasting—but he felt he could do her no justice with his rudimentary skills. The bulk of the harvest was ready to trade two weeks later, and he made another trip to trade the last of it. This time, driving a full cart of vegetables, he caught himself looking for her, for a girl sitting beneath a half-grown ash tree, book on her lap. 

Just as before, she was there when he started home again, a grey shawl draped over her legs. Perhaps his pa would have scolded him for stopping to say hello when there was hardly enough daylight to make it home before it grew dark, but his ma would have encouraged it; she had always hated that they lived so far from a friendly face. It was bad enough that she had such little adult conversation at her disposal, but what were her children to do to make friends? They would, of course, have to go out of their way for it.

So Dorcas pulled their old mule to a stop and stepped down from the driver’s seat, looping the reins around a low-hanging, spindly tree branch. He had never been shy, but his years gave him the appearance of it. His frame was only half-filled and he looked both lanky and bulky, his hair too long and his eyes too small. His shoes, not quite the right size, made his walk appear awkward.

The girl watched him carefully, fingers smoothing down the material of her warm shawl over her legs as if concerned that he had ill intentions. “Can I help you with something?” she asked, and he was surprised by the lovely timbre of her voice compared to the plainness of her face.

“I was just wondering…” He felt the words leave him as he took in the freckles dotting her forehead from exposure to the sun. There was something so endearing about it that, for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure how to react.

“Yes?” she asked, slim hands shifting. There were callouses on her fingers, same as any other woman in the area.

“Ah… You like to read.” He could have cursed himself for pointing out the obvious.

“It’s a nice way to pass the time,” she admitted, a tiny smile gracing her lips. Maybe she felt the need to take pity on him, for she held up the book, finger marking her place, and let him see the title.

“ _Winter Violets_ ,” he read, slow enough that he was a little embarrassed. He had never been much good at reading–had never really enjoyed it like he enjoyed other things. “Is there such a thing?”

“I don’t think so,” she said, and laughed, the sound carrying in the still air. “At least not around here. But that’s half the fun of it, don’t you think? Doesn’t the title make you wonder what the story is about?”

Five minutes ago it wouldn’t have, but he felt sold on the idea the way she spun it. “I suppose it does.”

She held out her hand expectantly, and he took it in his own, shaking it gently. He needn’t have worried; her fingers were surprisingly rough.

“Natalie,” she said. 

He managed a smile in return. “Dorcas.”


End file.
